<This posts contains 4 photos>. In our trip to South Korea, we did see a lot of fall foliage which are yellow or even golden in color. Everywhere there are lots of Gingko and other trees which gave an impression of a Golden Autumn. They remind me of the following poem written by a Chinese scholar and translated into English: I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tones mellower, its colors richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content. Lin Yutang I like Autumn and share the sentiment that – it knows the limitations of life and is content! On a similar note, Yoko Ono did quote : Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.

While I like reds but I also like greens, however, a mixture of reds and greens will be more interesting. I have therefore chosen something with both red and green from nature.

The first picture was taken while travelling to HuangLuo temple, Beijing earlier this year when maple leaves hanging down from a red wall were partly green and partly red. The mix of colors remind me of the coming Christmas. . . . . . . . . . .hope this serves as an electronic Christmas card to you all, Happy Holidays to you!!

The second picture was taken in the BaiWang Shan park, Beijing at about the same time of the year when we were strolling through the narrows paths in the park. Again the leaves exhibited both colors.

The third picture was taken a few years ago in Shirakawa-go, Japan. While all three photos are reds and greens, the shades of the colors are different and they convey a different atmosphere.

Back in Hong Kong, although winter has set in, many of the vegetation is still having a green color. This contrasts quite sharply with the red flowers which sprung up from their almost bare stems. Reds and greens, I like both of them mashing in together!

As part of our trip to Shirakawa-go, we passed through Kanazawa city and dropped by the Castle and the beautiful Six Attributes Garden, Kenroku-en. It was Autumn and the leaves have changed their colors.

Kenroku-en (兼六園, Six Attributes Garden), located in Kanazawa, Japan, is an old private garden. Along with Kairaku-en in Mito, Ibaragi and Koraku-en in Okayama , Kenroku-en is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan.

Kenroku-en was developed from the 1620s to the 1840s by the Maeda clan. The garden is located outside the gates of Kanazawa Castle where it originally formed the outer garden, and covers 114,436 m² (over 25 acres). It began in 1676, the garden was, however, destroyed by fire in 1759. Restoration begun in 1774, improvements continued in 1822, adding more streams and ponds. The garden was opened to the public on May 7, 1874.

We first passed by the Kotoji Lantern. Kotoji Lantern has two legs, which resembles the Kotoji bridge in Koto. The lantern is for lighting up the surface of the pond at night. The sun was setting and this photo taken against the light and including this lantern, the surrounding old trees with their colorful autumn foliage was the most impressive in Kenrokuen.

There are four tea houses in Kenrokuen. We strolled around the Kasumiga-ike Pond and were impressed by the Uchihashi-tei Tea House which is supported on stone piers but looked as if it was floating out of the pond.

The garden’s name was derived from the “Chronicles of the Famous Luoyang Gardens” (洛陽名園記), an ancient book by the Chinese poet Li Gefei (李格非), and stands for the six attributes of a perfect landscape. Kenrokuen is worth visiting because the garden has balanced all six scenic attributes.

According to the chronicles:

“兼六”的意思，好的園林要具備的六種特質：

「宏大・幽邃・人力・蒼古・水泉・眺望」

出自中國 詩人李格非 的《洛陽名園記》

「洛人云，園圃之勝，不能相兼者六：

務宏大者少幽邃；人力勝者少蒼古；多水泉者難眺望。

兼此六者，唯湖園而已。予嘗游之，信然」）。

The attributes are grouped into three complementary pairs: Spaciousness & Seclusion; Artifice & Antiquity; Water-courses & Panoramas. As the specialists say “it is difficult enough to find a garden that is blessed with any three or four of these desirable attributes, let alone five, or even more rarely, all six”. A delicate balance between all the pairs, for instance, between “spaciousness” and “seclusion” is required.

Kenrokuen is a monument to art, engineering, and nature. The garden combines winding paths, meandering streams, landscaped mounds, placid ponds, stones, plants, and structures to create a distinctive harmony. Every step and turn in the garden brings a new view to stop and admire. We were particularly impressed with the tall old pine trees and the pruned round shrubs.

For centuries Japanese gardens were developed under the influence of the Chinese Gardens, but gradually Japanese garden designers began to evolve their own style, based on Japanese materials and Japanese culture.

We strolled by secluded areas with streams and finally reached the Miyoshian Restaurant on Hisago-ike Pond, which we at first couldn’t make out that it was in fact a restaurant.

Japanese gardens are places of tranquil beauty where man and nature come together as one, places that ease the transition between the outside and inside world. The aesthetic qualities are evident even to the most casual observer, but the gardens also provide spaces for reflection ……….. they are also for the minds . We certainly found peace and joy in this garden.